- Increases In The Cost Of Visitor Visas
The Government has increased the cost of visitor visas to the UK – which makes little sense in the context of the need to rebuild inbound tourism industry and highlights the importance of our work on lobbying for a low-cost 5 year visa.
Visitor visa – (standard 6 months) increased £5 to £100
Visitor visa – (5 year multiple entry) increased £15 to £670
Visitor visa – long up to 10 years increased £15 to £837
- Tourism Industry Council Working Groups
The chairs of the four new TIC working groups have been announced. They are:
- Accessibility Working Group Chair: Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality
- Sustainability Working Group Chair: Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain
- International Competitiveness and Demand Working Group Chair: Joss Croft, CEO of UKInbound
- Events Industry Working Group: Michael Hirst, Executive Committee Member, Business Visits & Events Partnership
These working groups are aligned with the main themes of the Tourism Recovery Plan and will develop proposals for the TIC and Inter Ministerial Group on initiatives that will support recovery and growth.
- Government Scheme For EV Charging Points
The Government has introduced a new scheme whereby it will provide grants of up to £350 per electric vehicle charge point socket installed by accommodation businesses with every business able to claim up to 40 grants. This grant is available for B&B’s, campsites, small hotels, and any other accommodation business with less than 250 employees provided that the business is registered with Companies House, has a VAT number, or has a HMRC registration letter.
- Call For Evidence On Tax Treatment Of Self-Catering Businesses
The Office for Tax Simplification has published a call for evidence on the tax treatment of property income including the income derived from self-catering properties. As you will be aware, in most ways self-catering properties that comply with the Furnished Holiday Let rules are treated as trading businesses such as B&Bs and hotels rather than property investment businesses such as residential tenancies. This distinction provides operators with significant benefits in terms of the treatment of expenses and the provision of Capital Gains reliefs. There have been various attempts to claw-back these benefits in the past and the current call for evidence contains the following questions which suggest that we may have to refight this battle.
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of having a different regime for taxing property income and capital gains from Furnished Holiday Lettings?
- To what extent do those owning property taxed under the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime use the property themselves?
There is also a question at the end on income generated overseas which could mean that the OTS will be looking at income generated through the ownership of overseas timeshare properties.
Here is a copy of the call for evidence
And a link to an online survey that OTS are undertaking on the issue
The call for evidence closes on 5th June, so if you have any comments for inclusion in the Tourism Alliance submission please send them to we by the end of May.
- HMRC/ACAS NMW Seminars
HMRC and ACAS are holding two webinars for employers on the new NMW rates that will look at we will look at the more common mistakes made by employers when it comes to the minimum wage – and crucially – how businesses can avoid them. They will be answering questions and providing links to further support and information that businesses can take away from the session.
The two one-hour seminars are on 4th and 10th May and people can register for them on the following link